What A “Nobel” Birthday

That means I’m in a new age demographic and that hopefully means car insurance premiums will decrease.

That being said, I was more than shocked as I rolled over this morning for the FIRST time and checked my Twitter updates that President Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize when it was announced in Oslo, Norway [1].

Wait!?!?!? Our current President? The one and only current President of the United States was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes thinking I was confusing the words awarded and the word nominated. But no, he actually won it. Not to mention an approximate prize of $1,400,000.00 as well for it. I guess those are like the “genius grants” where you supposed to take the money and go do something with it.

I’m quite interested in knowing what his plans would be with the money.

That aside, I’ll be the first to say that this was a straight up political move. Now according to the rules there is some rather rigorous process through which the nomination undergoes and that the total nominees remain in secret for 50 years I guess until they’re released so we’ll never know who Obama was in contention with. But, that aside, everyone, even the White House is quite clear that this was shocker. I think this was interesting on the fact that the Nobel Prize committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland and the committee were quoted as saying “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future.”

So, they gave him a prize based on hope?

I think most will admit that was the case. Even Obama was quite clear that he wasn’t deserving of the prize and to be counted in the number of a Martin Luther King, Jr. who endured direct persecution for his actions nor a self-sacrificing individual such as Mother Teresa or even others such as the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. I just wonder what effect will this have on Obama personally?

This particular country in which we reside is perfectly okay with continuing on with business as usual and letting this Nobel Prize win be nothing more than a minor speedbump down the road of economic imperialism driven by the automation of capitalism. I can only imagine what Glenn Beck has already said during his show earlier today and I’m sure Hannity had a field day with his radio show earlier and is planning to act a fool tonight along with Rush and O’Reilly none plan to disappoint their listeners and viewers. And maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve grown to dislike Republican National Comittee chairman Michael Steele in general, but his remarks just sounded like, yet again, the lil’ brother being jealous of the older brother because he got more juice in his cup.

Along with the Nobel Prize Committee and I’m sure the rest of the world, except our country it seems, it is my hope that somewhere deep down in Obama’s soul and spirit that this is the impetus he needs to begin to deliver on his campaign promises and not be the politician that he campaigned to be. As their statement said, there’s this collective hope for a better future–a future that Obama has the ability to move towards. The eyes of the world are yet again looking toward this country to lead them into a collective future, not one where we’re merely the big kid on the block and everyone is afraid to stand up to, but the future where we’re all on the same playing field and we’re able to make a dent in the plethora of world crises.

But yes, it is ironic to the Afghani’s that he wins the Nobel Peace Prize as talks of ramping up troops is clearly on the table; it’s ironic to the Pakistanis and Iranians as U.S. counterattacks still take place and collateral damage is still occurring. It is most certainly ironic that he wins the Nobel Peace Prize to most Americans as many of us would have rather, as George Stephanopoulos quipped tonight on ABC’s World News Tonight, he won the Nobel Prize in Economics

Honestly, I don’t think he deserved, he doesn’t think he deserved which is great for minimizing fallout from the conservative pundits, nonetheless I still think it’s one of the best “FALL BACK BITCHES” moment in recent history!

Isn’t it wonderful that he can tell George W. Bush and Cheney and the rest of the Republican Party to just “FALL BACK” and eat everything they’ve been pushing since the campaign season last year. I mean I think this acted doubly as a great big “FALL BACK” with a middle finger to the former Bush administration that just–well, you know EFFED up everything royally on the international scene as far as public relations were concerned. Within this regards, I am glad for him truly glad for him.

I wish he would take the money and do something meaningful with it. Donating it to charities is so cliched. And even starting your own charities is rather cliched in the sense that you’re doing it more for PR purposes and we rarely hear about work that a lot of those celebrity funded charities end up doing. Even local papers are slow to report about local charities. If I were Obama I’d save that money until the post-White House days and actually use that money to do something hands on with it a la Jimmy Carter. I mean, Carter in his old age actually does the work with Habitat for Humanity–his old peanut farming self is out there with hammer and nails.

That’s true outreach and ministry, where the rubber meets the road.

As Sen. Barbara Boxer says in that above clip, wouldn’t it be nice if enough of us were on the same page where this was some galvanizing moment in American history, but meh….I guess that’s not reality.

[1] Please wish me a happy birthday dammit!! LOL :-)

[2] I had a prof in a Church History (Protestant Reformation to 1740) put on the test “Where did Martin Luther King receive the Nobel Peace Prize?” and I answered “Oslo, Norway” and this buck-mouthed fool informed me that that was a common misnomer and that the Nobel Prize was issued in Stockholm, Sweeden. FIRST of all, the Nobel Prize is issued in Oslo, Norway and the rest are issued in Stockholm, Sweeden–with yo Fire Marshal Bill faced ass!

What are your thoughts on Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize? Do you think it will make a difference in White House policies or even with Obama on a personal level? Who would have been your nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize prior to today if you had to choose?

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This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time: I consider this a natural consequence of having an open mind. This blog represents semi-permanent snapshots over a series of time as a seminary student transitioning into the professional world. As such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may or may not be the same currently. This shows my progression over time, and more importantly my growth.